It’s that time of year again, time to eat down the freezer stash.  Summer through fall I stock our freezer with frozen berries, vegetables, meat and seafood.  This means that through the long dreary winter and early spring, I can make cobblers, soups and other various dishes with produce preserved at peak freshness.  We also eat a lot more meat when it’s not harvest season, so all that protein stocked up helps us save money during the “meaty” months.  But with spring harvest a few weeks away, it’s time to start making room in the freezer.  First up, 12 pounds of King Crab Legs  I have left from Alaskan Seafood! Read more

Fennel is such a fun looking vegetable that I’m always interested in finding new ways to use it.  Fortunately I have The Flavor Bible to help me decide what ingredients to use in creating new fennel recipes.  If I had to choose just one cookbook, that would be it.  There are no recipes, but pretty much any flavor or ingredient you can think of is listed with every other flavor that goes well with it.  By going through the listing for fennel, and thinking of what ingredients I had on hand, I was able to create a refreshing spring salad without having to go out and buy anything! Read more

This may be my new favorite rice dish.  Actually I think I’m evenly divided between this and pomegranate saffron rice.  The great thing about this recipe is that it’s perfect for using up leftover rice.  Sometimes when I make rice for something I end up with extra but not quite enough for fried rice the next day.  I wanted to come up with a way to keep that rice from going to waste.  That’s how this simple dish of rice, spinach, shrimp and mushrooms was created.

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Being sick is no fun.  Since moving to Washington I have gotten terribly sick every February, we’re talking bronchitis, pneumonia out of work for weeks sick.  After four years of this, I’ve said “ENOUGH!”.  This February I’ve worked hard to eat right, exercise, wash hands and stay away from sick people.  I’m now on the tail end of a cold but nothing like previous years.  The funny thing about when I get sick , is I start wanting foods that other people might consider strange.  My latest recipe is one of those creations that fits as a classy appetizer or a quick and easy snack to go alongside a ginger ale (or beer if you’re not sick!). Read more

Are you ready for some more pomegranate goodness?  I’ve been planning my meals out 2 weeks at a time in order to REALLY stick to our budget.  Remember that one of my top ten ways to save money on food and still eat healthy is to plan your meals out.  By cooking several meals using similar ingredients you cut back on waste and on how much you have to buy.  Last week we ate a meal that had some form of pomegranates in it virtually every day.    My favorite lunch of the week was this pomegranate tuna salad.

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